Door for silos



March 11, 1930. L. D. HOUGHTALING 1,750,600 noon FOR SILOS FiledJan-.14, 15329 2 Shoals-Sheet. l

- INVENTOR WITNESSES L. Djbu htahqy,

ATTORNEY March 1930. L. D. HOUGHTALING 0,

DOOR FOR S ILOS Filed Jan. 14, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTIORV I.L.D.H(Zl9btali77 ATTORNEY WITNESSES Patented Mar. 11, 133i) LEVI D.HQUG-HTALZTNG, F READING, PENNSYLVANIA noon roa sites Application filedJanuary 14, 1929.

This invention relates to doors of silos.

An object of the invention is the provision of a door which may bereadily removed from the silo to provide an opening to discharge 5materials stored in the silo, means being provided for readily releasinga securing means for the door, said means providing rungs whereby theoperator may climb to the upper portions of the silo.

A further object of the invention is the pro vision of a fastening meansfor silo doors in which a body member has inturned spring legs fromwhich laterally project arms received within the bearings of bracketssecured 16 to the outer face of the door. Feet, being connected to thefree ends of the arms, engage the walls of the silo for maintaining thedoor in position, the brackets having cams engaged by the spring armsfor forcing said arms on the feet inwardly, thereby locating the feetwithin the confines of the door and out of engagement with the walls ofthe silo, thus permitting removal of the door.

This invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, in view of the accompanying drawingsforming a part of the specification; nevertheless it is to be understoodthat the in vention is not confined to the disclosure, be-

ing susceptible of such changes and modifi cations which shall define nomaterial departure from the salient features of the invention asexpressed in the appended claim.

Figure l is a view in perspective of a silo constructed in accordancewith the principles of my invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view in perspec tive of my improved securingmeans.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 33 of Figure 4.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view in elevation showing a door equipped withmy fastening means.

Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken along the line 55 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a vertical section taken along the line 66 of Figure 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 10 designates a base memberformed of "concrete or any suitable material from which Serial No.332,533.

rises an approximately cylindrical silo 11 formed of any suitablematerial. This silo is covered by a roof formed of two sections 12 and13. Section 12 is dome-shaped, while section 13 is frusto-conicallyshaped with the outer walls inclined at a slight angle to the vertical.

A pair of jambs 14 are secured to the outer walls of the silo. Steelbands16 encircle the walls of the silo at spaced points and have theirends received within sockets 17 formed integrally with fastening blocks18 which are secured in any appropriate manner to the jambs 14. Nuts 19are threaded onto the ends of the steel bands for drawing the bandstoward each other and for maintaining the same in position. Rods 20 and21 are formed integrally with the spaced blocks 18 and the ends of therod 20 is threaded at 24 onto one end of a passage within a sleeve 22.The free end of rod 21 is threaded into the other end of said sleeve asshown at 23. The sleeve 22 is in the shape of a nut which may be rotatedin any suitable manner for drawing the ends of the rods together forrelieving strain on the jambs 14 due to the pull exerted by the bands16.

A left hand bracket 30 is secured adjacent the left hand edge of a door31, while a right hand bracket 32 is secured to the outer face of thedoor adjacent the right hand edge. The combination of elements includedin each bracket are similarly constructed with the exception that theelements are oppositely placed. Bracket 30 is provided with anenlargement 33 having a cam edge 34 and a bearing 35. Bracket 32 has athickened portion at 36 and is provided with a cam edge 37 and a bearing38.

A fastening member in the form of a bale 39 has a body portion 40 spacedfrom the outer face of the door 31 and inwardly extending legs 41 and42. The legs are connected to the body member by means of a spiralspring 43. An arm 44 extends laterally from the leg 41 and is receivedwithin the bearing 35, while an arm 45 extends laterally from the leg 42and is received Within the bearing 38. A foot 50 is formed integrallywith the arm 44 and extends down wardly and is provided with a frictionpad 51 adapted to engage the outer surface of one of the jambs 14. Thearm 45 is provided with a foot 52 having a friction pad secured to itsinner surface in the same manner as is disclosed in Figure 2 for thefoot 50.

The operation of my device is as follows: A number of the doors 31 arelocated at spaced intervals along the height of the elongated opening 15to permit the discharge of grain at progressively varying heights.-lVhen the arrangement of the door provides for a uniform spacing of themembers 39, such mem bers may be employed as rungs of a ladder whereby aworkman may climb to the top of the silo. Itwill thus be seen that themember 39 not only provides a fastening means for various doors, butprovides means of ascending or descending the silo.

hen it is desired to remove a door, it is only necessary to rockthemember 39 upwardly in its bearings 35 and 38 whereby the leg 41 and 42will engage respectively the cam surfaces 34 and 37 and cause the innerportions of the legs to be moved inwardly towards each other. hen thisaction occurs, the arms 44 and 45 will be moved inwardly, withdrawingthe feet 50 and 52 out of engagement with the jambs 14 whereby the doormay be moved inwardly to permit the discharge of grain and to permit theworkman to enter the silo at this point.

The body member 40, the legs 41 and 42, and the arms 44 and 45 areformed of resilient material. The legs 41 and 42 will not only be movedinwardly towards each other, but will spring outwardly when the bodyportion 40 of the bale 39 is moved to an inoperative position as shownin Figure 4.

The rocking of the bale 39 to an upper unlocking position will cause thefeet 50 and 52 to be rocked and the greater portion of the contactingsurface removed from frictional engagement with the jamb 14 therebypermitting ready release of the feet.

It will be noted that the jambs 14 have undercut portions as shown at tobe engaged by bevels 61 of the door 31 so that when the lock is inposition, the bevelled portion 61 will snugly fit the under-cut portion60. A rib 62 is formed along the upper edges of the door and adapted tobe received Within the complementarily formed grooves in the bevelledsections 60 of the jambs 14.

I claim: 7

A device of the character described comprising a door, spaced bracketssecured to the door and provided with cams, a bail having a body portionspaced from the door, legs formed, of resilient material and extendinginwardly from the body portion and engaged bythe cams for moving theinner ends of the legs towards each other when the bail is a footprojecting laterally from each arm and provided with a friction padadapted to engage a fixed support beyond the ends of the door forholding the door to the fixed suprocked, an arm projecting laterallyfrom each leg and guided for reciprocation by a bracket,

